The Interface Between Australia's Aged Care System and the National Disability Insurance Scheme: Population Perspectives

Abstract

The interface between Australia's aged care and disability systems has come into sharper focus with the 2023 Review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) recommendation to retain the upper age limit for entry and the introduction of an age criterion for assessment in the Aged Care Act 2024. Both are set at age 65. This precise administrative boundary contrasts with the considerable movement across the two systems in practice and prompts examination of these flows from the perspective of the populations in the ‘interface’ age groups, 60–64 and 65–69 years. This article begins with a review of the reasoning behind the lack of age criteria in aged care until the 2024 Act and the NDIS age definition. It then shows how the application of current criteria in the two systems gives rise to permeability across the interface. The size and characteristics of service use in the cohorts at the interface are then examined, including expected trends. The findings lead to the conclusion that sharpening the age division will not resolve the boundary between the disability and aged care systems. Instead, further analysis from a policy and program perspective is proposed to understand how the issues have arisen and how they might be addressed.